The present invention relates to an electronic transaction system having a translator for executing a conversion between a local message having a local format peculiar to the user and a standard message having a standard format such as EDIFACT or the like which is transmitted and received via a network. More particularly, the invention relates to an electronic transaction system, a set-up apparatus, and a set-up supporting apparatus which are used for efficiently executing a set-up work of a conversion table for a translator and also relates to a computer readable storage medium in which control programs necessary for those system and apparatuses have been recorded.
Hitherto, an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) system for executing transactions among companies such as issue and reception of orders of products, management of articles, and the like by using an electronic message has been being rapidly spread on an international scale over national boundaries. The conventional EDI system has a relatively strong regional characteristic. For example, in Japan, development of an EDI system peculiar to each type of industry is promoted. For instance, in the electric industry, an EIAJ standard promoted by Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ) is provided. Actual transactions among companies are, however, spread over the industries. Consequently, as a domestic standard EDI, the CII syntax rule is provided in Japan and ANSI X. 12 is provided in U.S.A. Further, as an international standard EDI, there is EDIFACT which is spread mainly in Europe. It is desired that the standards are shifted to EDIFACT as an international standard in both of U.S.A. and Japan in near future, thereby building a global EDI system on a global scale.
An EDI system which is presently put into practical use, however, uses an electronic message according to a local format peculiar to the user as an industrial standard. In order to effectively use resources according to the local format and to shift to EDIFACT of the international standard, a function of a translator for performing conversion between an electronic message according to a local format of each enterprise and an electronic message according to a standard format is very important. For the translator, a mapping table for conversion in which the corresponding relation between items of the local format and items of the standard format has been defined is necessary. Generally, with respect to a work for forming the mapping table, the operator performs a work for linking the items of the standard format to the relevant items of the local format.
Under a situation such that the EDI system is developed on a full scale, for example, electronic transactions are performed between one company serving as an order source and a plurality of companies, generally, tens to hundreds of companies serving as order destinations. In such a case, when customers use different local formats, there is troublesomeness that a different mapping table has to be formed for each customer. It is, therefore, considered to construct an EDI system in which a local format is determined by one company as an order source and a common local format is used with respect to all of the customers. By commonly using the local format, it is sufficient to basically form only one kind of the mapping table which is used by the translator, so that an amount of troublesomeness and labor which are required for the work of forming the mapping table can be largely reduced.
Further, in case of constructing the EDI system in which the local format is commonly used, it is necessary to proceed the system construction by the following procedure.
procedure I: Establishment and preparation of an in-house system at the order source (establishment of a local format and preparation of the in-house system at the order source)
procedure II: Schedule planning of an EDI system construction with all of the customers
procedure III: execution of an EDI connection test with each customer along the constructed schedule
Among them, with respect to the procedures I and II, there is relatively little problem since they can be performed as in-house works of the order source. With respect to the procedure III, however, a work occurs for each of tens to hundreds of customers, so that an extremely long period of time and a number of processes for correspondence are necessary to complete the EDI connection tests with all of the customers.
According to the invention, there are provided an electronic transaction system, a set-up processing module, and a set-up supporting apparatus which make a set-up work of a translator to be used at a customer efficient, thereby enabling a connection test to be completed in a short period, and there is also provided a computer readable recording medium in which various control programs have been recorded. An EDI system of the invention comprises an order issuer apparatus (server for an order issuer), an order receiver apparatus (client for an order receiver), a set-up supporting apparatus, and a set-up processing apparatus. The order issuer apparatus has a translator for order issue for converting a local transaction message of a local format to a standard transaction message of a standard format which is transmitted through a network. The order receiver apparatus has a translator for order receipt for converting the standard transaction message of the standard format received though the network to the local transaction message of the local format. The set-up supporting apparatus stores a model table which is used for conversion of the translator in the order receiver apparatus and a set-up supporting tool for modifying the model table and setting up into the translator. The set-up processing apparatus is provided for the order receiver apparatus, receives a down-load of the model table and the set-up supporting tool by a supporting request to the set-up supporting apparatus, and automatically executes a set-up process of the translator on the basis of an input of predetermined individual information. According to the electronic transaction system of the invention as mentioned above, by providing the set-up processing apparatus and the set-up supporting apparatus for the order receiver apparatus, by merely sending a supporting request from the set-up processing apparatus and inputting individual information regarding the order receiver, the model table and the supporting tool are down-loaded, and the set-up process for the translator is automatically performed, so that the number of works of an EDI connection test can be largely reduced. Even a customer having none of the knowledge and experience of the EDI syntax can immediately introduce the EDI system and use it.
The set-up supporting apparatus stores as model tables: a local message table in which local messages have been defined; a standard message table in which standard formats have been defined; a mapping table in which the link relation between the local message table and the standard message table has been defined; and a use set table in which the kinds of mapping table and local message table have been set. As set-up supporting tools, a set-up operation picture plane, a set-up executing module, and a platform as a virtual machine environment for making the set-up executing module operative are stored. By sending the supporting request to the set-up supporting apparatus, the set-up operation picture plane and the platform are down-loaded to the set-up processing apparatus. By an authorizing requesting operation after the individual information was inputted by using the set-up operation picture plane, the local message table, standard message table, mapping table, use set table, and set-up executing module are down-loaded, the mapping table and the use set table are modified on the basis of the individual information and are converted to tables peculiar to the company, and the resultant tables are set up into the translator. As a minimum construction necessary for setting up in the translator, the set-up supporting apparatus stores the mapping table in which the link relation between the local message table and the standard message table excluding the local message table and the standard message table has been defined as a model table. As set-up supporting tools, the set-up operation picture plane, set-up executing module, and platform as a virtual machine environment for making the set-up executing module operative are stored. In this case, the set-up processing module sends the supporting request to the set-up supporting apparatus and the set-up operation picture plane and the platform are down-loaded. By executing the authorizing requesting operation after the individual information was inputted by using the set-up operation picture plane, the mapping table, use set table, and set-up executing module are down-loaded, the mapping table and use set table are modified on the basis of the individual information and are converted to company tables, and the company tables are set up into the translator. The set-up processing apparatus inputs a company code, a customer code, and a using platform as individual information and notifies the set-up supporting apparatus of the authorizing request including the company code, customer code, using platform, and further an ID code on the basis of the authorizing requesting operation. The set-up supporting apparatus has a customer management table in which an ID code of a partner of the electronic transaction has been preliminarily registered. When collation coincidence of the ID code and adaptation of the using platform are obtained on the basis of the authorizing request from the set-up processing apparatus, the company code, customer code, and using platform are registered in the customer management table. Further, on the basis of a success of the authorizing process, the model tables and set-up supporting tools are down-loaded to the set-up processing apparatus. The set-up executing module down-loaded to the set-up processing apparatus changes the company code and the customer code in the mapping table and the use set table to the company code and customer code inputted from the operation picture plane, thereby converting them to a mapping table and a use set table for the company. Further, as an IN file for testing, the set-up supporting apparatus stores transaction messages for testing (a local transaction message for testing and a standard transaction message for testing) and down-loads the transaction message for testing in response to the supporting request from the set-up processing apparatus. The set-up processing apparatus executes a conversion test of the set-up completed translator by the down-loaded transaction message for testing and notifies the set-up supporting apparatus of the test result. For example, the platform is a JAVA applet and the set-up executing module is a JAVA program module which operates on the JAVA applet.
Further, according to the invention, there are provided: an error mail transmitting apparatus for transmitting error contents as an electronic mail when errors occur in the translator of the order issuer apparatus; a supporting mail apparatus for acquiring countermeasure information for the occurred errors by retrieving a database based on the error contents when the electronic mail is received from the error mail transmitting apparatus and returning an electronic mail; and an error correspondence processing apparatus for receiving the electronic mail from the supporting mail apparatus and presenting the countermeasure information for the occurred errors in the translator. Consequently, the user of the electronic transaction system can be provided with the proper error correspondence information for the errors occurred in the translator so that it is possible to promptly and properly cope with the errors in the translator even if the user has none of the experience and knowledge of the EDI syntax, and the system can be smoothly operated.
According to the invention, there is provided an electronic transaction apparatus which functions as, for example, an order receiver apparatus and has a translator for executing a conversion between the local transaction message and the standard transaction message which is transmitted and received through the network. According to the invention, the electronic transaction apparatus has a set-up processing module for receiving down-load of a model table and a set-up supporting tool in response to a supporting request for a set-up supporting apparatus and automatically executing a set-up process of the translator on the basis of an input of predetermined individual information. The details of the electronic transaction apparatus functioning as an order receiver apparatus in this case are the same as those of the electronic transaction system.
According to the invention, there is also provided a set-up supporting apparatus for supporting a set-up of the translator which is provided for the electronic transaction system and executes the conversion between the local transaction message and the standard transaction message which is transmitted and received via the network. The set-up supporting apparatus has the model table which is used for the translator of the electronic transaction apparatus and the set-up supporting tool for modifying the model table and setting up into the translator and down-loads the model table and set-up supporting tool in response to the supporting request from the electronic transaction apparatus, thereby allowing the set-up process of the translator to be automatically executed. The details of the set-up supporting apparatus in this case are also the same as those of the electronic transaction system.
According to the invention, there is provided a computer readable recording medium in which a control program of an electronic transaction system has been recorded, comprising:
an order issue processing module having a translator for order issue for converting a local transaction message of a local format into a standard transaction message of a standard format which is transmitted via a network:
one or a plurality of order receipt processing modules each having a translator for order receipt for converting the standard transaction message of the standard format received via the network into the local transaction message of the local format;
a set-up supporting module in which a model table which is used for the conversion of the translator of the order receipt processing module and a set-up supporting tool for modifying the model table and setting up into the translator have been stored; and
a set-up processing module which is provided for the order receipt processing module, receives a down-load of the model table and the set-up supporting tool in response to a supporting request for the set-up supporting module, and automatically executes a set-up process of the translator on the basis of an input of predetermined individual information.
According to the invention, there is also provided a computer readable recording medium which functions as a set-up processing apparatus and in which a control program has been recorded, comprising:
a translator for executing a conversion between a local transaction message of a local format and a standard transaction message of a standard format which is transmitted and received via a network; and
a set-up processing module for receiving a down-load of the model table and the set-up supporting tool by a supporting request for the outside and automatically executing a set-up of the translator on the basis of an input of predetermined individual information.
Further, according to the invention, there is also provided a computer readable recording medium which functions as a set-up supporting apparatus and in which a control program has been recorded, comprising:
a model table which is used for a translator that is provided for an electronic transaction module and executes a conversion between a local transaction message of a local format and a standard transaction message of a standard format which is transmitted and received via a network;
a set-up supporting tool for modifying the model table and setting up into the translator; and
a set-up supporting module for down-loading the model table and the set-up supporting tool in response to a supporting request from the outside and allowing a set-up process of the translator to be automatically executed.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings.